OT - Facebook and Twitter

MBannon · Oct 27, 2011

Haven't been super active here because all my "internet time" lately has been spent revamping our company website (still in process) as well as building both a Facebook and a Twitter account. Y'all mind taking a peek before I annouce to our client base? You don't have to "like" or "follow" us (although you are certainly welcome to if you want), I just want a few more sets of eyes to tell me if I messed anything up or should add/tweak/modify.
 
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Granite-Point-Tax-Group-LLC/118528791587315" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Granite-Point-Tax-Group-LLC/118528791587315</a>
 
Twitter @GranitePointTax
 
All thoughts and comments appreciated. Thanks!

Thor · Oct 27, 2011

I don't do Twitter... but the FB page looks great. Love the photos that resemble your logo.

MBannon · Oct 28, 2011

Thanks, Thor! One of my favorite aspects of building and maintaining our website is shopping for awesome mountain shots on iStockPhoto. Ends up costing about ten bucks per picture. Pretty sure it's well worth it for us.

Thor · Oct 28, 2011

My wife (a graphic designer by trade) gets a lot of photos from iStockPhoto.

Alaska Mike · Oct 28, 2011

It looks great. My question is - what do you plan to do with it? Seems to me that unless you have a specific plan for using FB and twitter, then they just end up being mirrors of your web site.
 
The best companies that I've seen using FB (REI comes to mind) work on creating a running dialog with constantly evolving information that they are pushing out to their customer base. They link it to contests and blogs and push new products and information out. And in some ways their customers become fans and the companies are good about responding to posts to the FB wall. But they also have someone dedicated full time to maintaining that presence.
 
Just like a poorly designed web page with out of date information, a neglected FB page can actually create a negative image for your business. So if you're going to launch your FB page, make sure you check on it on a regular basis.
 
Just my $0.02 worth,
Mike

MBannon · Oct 28, 2011

Thanks Mike. I definitely plan to tweet at least once a day and post something to FB every two or three days, just to keep both from going stale. My only real goal here is to keep our name and logo in front of our clients' eyes throughout the year. It can be tough in this business to maintain raport with people you only see twice a year (once for the tax interview and again for the exit conference). And of course if you lose the raport, you risk losing the loyalty and therefore the business.

Yo Sake · Oct 29, 2011

I don't do twitter and am not that active on FB either. Quite honestly, no sure where the values come in play for your company on FB (not in a negative way but plain ignorant way). Certainly the FB page looks great with all the gorgeous photos! What about linkedin? Is there a place on that for a company like yours? Good luck!

Swimmerbee · Oct 31, 2011

I'd second the notion of linked in. In either venue if you posted tax realted thoughts and strategies this year in particular it could become very popular. I ahve a lot of peopel asking what is the threshold for the "rich" that are to be taxed, you could link to various articles covering that and how will my pension be taxed differently, what is an employee vs contractor etc. I can see that having a place simply for linking to this kind of info that could get your company a lot of traffic fast.

pcsronbo · Oct 31, 2011

With all the social media stuff, before you waste a lot of time make sure you understand and are working to draw the right kind of traffic. If you are posting strategies on tax planning for those with $50 Mil and above and assests only, but your practice is focused on preparing 1099EZ's for handicapped people... you're wasting your time.
 
Do all this stuff with purpose, lest you waste your time and distract you from billable time/efforts and/or family time and/or you time. After 25 years of doing this, I get real critical about my marketing efforts because it can be a complete time suck with minimal to no return.
 
so anyway, I do all 3 (Tweets via an autolink from linked in) and I FB regularly some articles that are of interest to my client base. However, It's pretty ineffective overall. It's one of those things that you have "to have" and not because it generates much work. A website, a fax number, a FB account... etc.... all of these things have minimal impact in generating revenue but the LACK of them makes you look like a fly by night. Instead we do stuff like speaking in front of networking groups or CPA societies and such and that generates 1000x more real leads.

MBannon · Oct 31, 2011

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Originally Posted by pcsronbo <a href="/t/75542/ot-facebook-and-twitter#post_2018214"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style=""></a>
A website, a fax number, a FB account... etc.... all of these things have minimal impact in generating revenue but the LACK of them makes you look like a fly by night. Instead we do stuff like speaking in front of networking groups or CPA societies and such and that generates 1000x more real leads.
 
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 Perfect. And matches precisely with my experience so far.

jroden · Oct 31, 2011

Look, just go to my web page and use it as a prototype for awesomeness. I used a highly technical program called "notepad" that you will not understand, but hire a pro and your results will be like mine:
 
<a href="http://zippywheels.com/" target="_blank">http://zippywheels.com/</a>

MBannon · Oct 31, 2011

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by jroden <a href="/t/75542/ot-facebook-and-twitter#post_2018237"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style=""></a> Look, just go to my web page and use it as a prototype for awesomeness. I used a highly technical program called "notepad" that you will not understand, but hire a pro and your results will be like mine:
 
<a href="http://zippywheels.com/" target="_blank">http://zippywheels.com/</a>
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 Actually, I built my first couple websites with Notepad, then tried Frontpage and hated it, and ever since then I have been using a program called HTML-Kit which is just a dressed-up Notepad.

jenotter · Oct 31, 2011

Looks good Matt!
 
Some food for thought: I work for a non-profit...we have our own website, but we also have a Facebook page. Our philosophy about FB is to drive people back to our website, and maintain that as our main internet presence. I do a lot of posting on FB for the organization about upcoming events/programs, and it's been a nice way to stay connected with our volunteers and community supporters...but it can be a beast to keep up with it. I think if your website is your main vehicle for providing clients and prospects with the details about your business, FB can be a tool to facilitate that process.

OT - Facebook and Twitter

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